Resealable tubular metallic container



NOV 29, 1955' J. c. A. FlTcH RESEALABLE TUBULAR METALLIC CONTAINER Filed Sept. 24, 1954 FIG. l

ATTORNEYS United States Patent() RESEALABLE TUBULAR METALLIC CONTAINER John C. A. Fitch, Bloomfield, N. J., assigner to Standard Container, Inc., Rockaway, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 24, 1954, Serial No. 458,118

3 Claims. (Cl. 22o- 54) This invention relates to containers and more particularly to sealed cylindrical containers which 'are opened by means of a tear strip but which are provided with pressure-tight reclosure means. The invention provides a container of this type having an improved reclosure structure which permits the container to be resealed in a manner which is dependably waterand air-tight against substantial pressures.

My issued Patent No. 2,653,730 discloses a sealed tubular container of the general type to which the present invention relates, and the present invention provides an improvement over the container of that patent. The container disclosed in that patent comprises a cylindrical metallic can of the usual type in which the cylindrical side Wall includes an interlocking seam extending from the top to the bottom of the can and a tear strip extending around the cylindrical side wall. The strip may be considered as dividing the can into two sections which must be sealed together if the container is to be reclosed after initial opening by removal of the tear strip. In the container of my said patent the reclosure is effected by means of two seals, effectively provided one between each of the two sections of the container and a gasket or similar sealing ring mounted within the can in the original manufacture thereof. To permit such resealing an inner substantially cylindrical sleeve is provided in one section of the container, conveniently referred to as the upper section. The sleeve is crimped in air-tight fashion to the upper end of the container and is formed with a thread which, upon removal of the tear strip, is permitted to engage a thread rolled in the side wall of the container on the op posite side of, i. e. below, the tear strip. Upon such engagement in reclosure of the container the lower edge of the sleeve is brought to bear against the gasket, which is supported within the lower section of the container on the end of a fiber or paper cylinder between the side wall of the container and a retaining ring. The threaded er1- gagement so produced reseals the two sections of the container together, one seal being developed between the sleeve of the upper section and the gasket and the other seal being developed between the gasket and the side wall of the lower section. The second seal is however somewhat difficult to achieve dependably to withstand any substantial pressure (such as that produced by a shallow mmersion of the container) because of the irregularity introduced into the side wall by the seam already referred to.

The present invention provides an improved resealable container capable of providing reclosure with improved water-tight and air-tight integrity but without substantial increase in manufacturing cost. In the container of the present invention the gasket is carried on a seamless sleeve itself sealed to one section of the container, and reclosure is effected by the provision of an annular boss or constriction of the cylindrical wall of the container itself in the other container section, i. e. on the side of the tear strip opposite that to whose section of the container is atxed the sleeve which carries the gasket. Upon reclosure the gasket is brought to bear in a positive ICC manner against the inwardly extending surface of the con` striction, all the way around the circumference of the side wall, and the resulting stress primarily axially of thecontainer provides a dependable seal even where the otherwise smooth conical or flat surface of the boss is interrupted by the seam in the side Wall.

The invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of a container according to the present invention, in the condition of original manufacture; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view similar to that of Fig. 1 but at an enlarged scale, showing the container of Fig. 1 resealed after opening by removal of' the tear strip.

The container of Fig. l is formed from a cylindrical metallic sheet whose edges are crimped and soldered along a longitudinal seam 7. The longitudinal extremities of the side wall 6 are similarly connected to circular top and bottom walls 9 and 10 by crimped connectionsproviding a pressure-tight container.

A pair of parallel circular score lines 11 and 12 extend around the side wall 6 of the container and define a tear strip 13 from which extends a tear tab 14 at the longitudinal seam 7. The tear strip 13 divides the container into two sections 15 and 16 which may be conveniently referred to as upper and lower sections although the selection of one section as the upper and the other as the lower is purely arbitrary.

A substantially cylindrical sleeve 17 is scaled around its periphery to the inside of the side wall 6 within the upper section 15, for example by incorporation of a flange on that sleeve into the crimped joint at which the side wall and top end wall are joined together. The cylin-v drical sleeve extends longitudinally downward a substantial distance below the upper score line 11 and preferably into the lower container section 16, and has a helical corrugation or thread 18 formed therein for engagement with a corresponding helical corrugation 19 formed in the side wall 6 below the tear strip. The sleeve 17 has formed on or affixed to its lower end a terminal member 20 which forms au annular channel 23 between radially extending flanges 21 and 22, and the member 20 is soldered or otherwise suitably connected in sealing rela? tion around its entire circumference to the lower end of the sleeve 17. While in the embodiment illustrated the annular channel is provided by means of a separate member 20 aliixed to the sleeve, the channel may be provided by suitable shaping of the end portion of the sleeve itself.

The channel, indicated at 23, accommodates a gasket 24 of rubber or the like, the gasket having an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the side wall 6 of the container but greater than the inner diameter of a boss or constriction 28 formed in the side wall of the container below the helical thread 19.

The boss is positioned below the upper end of the thread 19 by a distance at least as great as the axial height of the channel 23 in order that the threads 18 and 19 may engage before the lower end of the gasket brings up against the boss when the container is to be reclosed as illustrated in Fig. 2. On the other hand, in the container as manufactured, the spacing between the lower edge of the gasket as supported in channel 23 and the upper side of the boss against which the gasket is to bear on reclosure must be less than the width of the tear strip. The lower flange 22 of the terminal member 20 is preferably given an outer diameter substantially less than the outer diameter of the gasket in order not to interfere with engagement between the gasket and boss. Conversely, the outer diameter of the gasket and of the sleeve 17 both must be smaller than the inner diameter of the side wall 6, but the outer diameter of the gasket must not be less than the minimum diameter of the constriction 28.

JIf, after opening of the container by removal of the Lear strip as my means of a key engaged on the tab 14, ,it is desired to reclose the container, the sleeve 17 is lslipped into the lower section until engagement is effected between the threads 18 and 19, relative rotation of the two container sections thereupon forcing the gasket against the boss. Upon reclosure by screwing the two sections of the container together, the stress developed at their threads 18 and 19 is directly effective in forcing the gasket into contact with the boss or constriction along the entire circumferential length of both, whereby a dependable seal is achieved.

While the invention has been described herein in terms of a preferred embodiment, the invention is not restricted to the details of structure illustrated; the scope of the invention is rather set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A reclosable tubular metallic container comprising top and bottom end Walls, a cylindrical side wall circumferentially scribed to dene therein a tear strip having upper and lower edges, said tear strip dividing said container into upper and lower sections having as bounding edges the edges of said tear strip, a cylindrical sleeve having an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of said side wall, said sleeve being affixed in pressure-tight relation to the inside of the side wall of one of said sections an'd extending longitudinally of the container beyond the edge of said section, said sleeve having a helical corrugation in the portion thereof so extending, an annular constriction in the side Wall of the other of said sections, a helical corrugation in the side wall of said other section between said constriction and the bounding edge of said other section, and an annular gasket supported adjacent the free end of said sleeve, said gasket having an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of fsaid side Wall and greater than the minimum inside diameter of said constriction.

2. A reclosable tubular metallic container comprising top and bottom end walls, a cylindrical side wall circumferentially scribed to define therein a tear strip having upper and lower edges, said tear strip dividing said container into upper and lower sections having as bounding edges the edges of said tear strip, a cylindrical sleeve having an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of said side wall, said sleeve being aiXed in pressure-tight relation to the inside of the side wall of one of said sections and extending longitudinally of the container beyond the edge of said section, said sleeve having a helical corrugation in the portion thereof so extending, an annular constriction in the side wall of the other of said sections, a helical corrugation in the side wall of said other section between said constriction and the bounding edge of said other section, means defining an outwardly open annular groove on said sleeve adjacent the free end thereof, and an annular gasket supported in said groove, said gasket having an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of said side wall and greater than the minimum inside diameter of said constriction.

3. A resealable tubular metallic container comprising top and bottom end walls, a cylindrical side Wall having a tear strip scribed therein, the edges of said tear strip dividing the container into upper and lower sections having as bounding edges the edges of said tear strip, a substantially cylindrical sleeve affixed in pressure-tight relation to the inner surface of the side wall of one of said sections, said sleeve having a portion extending beyond the edge of said one section, a helical corrugation formed in said portion, the other of said sections having an annular constriction formed in the side wall thereof, a gasket supported on the free end of said sleeve, the separation between said gasket and boss being substantially less than the width of said tear strip, and a second helical corrugation formed in the side wall of said other section, said helical corrugations being adapted to interengage when the tear strip is removed, thereby compressing the gasket onto said boss.

No references cited. 

